Adventures At Space Camp
by Radioactive Nerd
Summary: Three... two... one... Lift off!
1. chapter 1

**Author's Note: This story was supposed to come out in June but got postponed. Ah, I forgot how much I love Jules and Verne. They're very fun to write for. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jules Eratosthenes Brown or Verne Newton Brown. I just own the space camp in this story and all my non-canon characters. Also a certain quote is, in all respects, from **_**The Adventures of Pete and Pete. **_

"We'll do the dishwasher for a month!"

"Yes and we'll sterilize Einstein whenever you request!"

Jules and Verne Brown were practically on their knees by now. Their parents sat on the living room's couch, still wearing skeptical expressions on their faces. But the boys were sure that those expressions were softening. Just a little more persuasion and they might just win.

"Well that would be helpful," Clara said and then picked up the list of pros and cons one of her sons had written. "But why would you want to go to space camp?"

Jules was ready to turn on the projector but Verne summed it up in three words.

"Because it's awesome."

"That's a little vague Verny," Doc commented and Jules elbowed his younger sibling. The physical signal said it all: Verne needed to be more specific for the request to be taken into serious consideration.

"Okay we found the ad for the camp in one of Jules' National Geographics-"

"The one about meteor showers," Jules interrupted.

"Yep that one," Verne said. "And we really, really, really want to go. Please?"

Doc and Clara shared a long look then. They were communicating through their own husband-and-wife secret language. That was something the two always did for as long as the boys could remember. In fact, they had become so accustomed to it that they knew their father's answer before he even opened his mouth.

"We'll think about it boys," Doc said.

Later that evening, Verne was coming back from brushing his teeth when he heard voices coming from his parents' room. The door to the room was ajar just enough for his mother and father's voice to filter out. Verne knelt down on his knees and peeked into the room. He saw his parents sitting up in their big bed with their quilt pushed to the foot board. His father had a notepad on his lap and a pen in his hand. Verne recognized it as the Notepad of Decision Making. Something his dad always pulled out on occasions to get the facts straight. His mother was lying against their headboard with a deep face of concentration. Her legs were bent and her feet were pressed flat on the soft mattress.

"Can we afford it?" Clara asked. Doc checked his notepad before answering his wife.

"Yes," he said and shifted his gaze onto Clara. "It sounds like a good idea to me, Clara. It will be fun _and_ educational for them."

Verne's stomach did a flip as he realized what they were talking about. He tried to move a little closer to the crack in the door to hear well. Man did he wish he had some sort of microphone gadget.

"I know," Verne heard his mother mutter. "But I don't know if I'm comfortable with Jules and Verne going to a twenty-four hour camp for seven days."

"They'll be supervised, though." Doc reminded. "And they'll call home every night. It won't be like our family ties will be severed."

Verne watched his father reach out and pat his wife's hand. He stroked it with great care.

"Plus you know very well that they are aged enough to be self-sustaining for a week," Doc said and kissed Clara's hand. She smiled but kept the unsure look on her face.

"I still don't know…"

Verne got up to his feet and backed away from the door in slow steps. He then darted down the hallway and into his older brother's room. Without knocking of course.

"Verne do we have to look up 'privacy' in the dictionary again?" Jules asked, his expression cross at the intrusion from his younger sibling.

"Nope," Verne answered and plopped down on the bed. "Listen, there's a chance that space camp is a go."

Jules put down the current tome he was reading. At least this interruption by Verne was actually igniting his curiosity.

"Exactly what percentage of a chance?" Jules asked.

Verne let out a sigh of exasperation.

"I don't know!" the ten-year-old said. "You know I stink at math!"

"Shh!" Jules shushed. He got up and closed his bedroom door. He then returned to his spot at his desk. "We can't have mother and father knowing you eavesdropped. Now, I have a plan for us."

"Well spill it." Verne said.

"All right," Jules said and lowered his voice. "We have to please our parental figures by performing unlikable menial labor."

"Great," Verne said and rolled his eyes. "Chores."

The next day, the boys spent all their time cleaning and sprucing up the Brown household. Jules did a lot of yard work like pushing the lawn mower (oh how he hated that loud contraption) and trimming the oleander bushes. Verne worked inside and cleaned practically every room in the house. Except the basement. He was always anxious about going down there. Doc and Clara were absolutely confused as to why their sons were being helpful. Their pre-teens hated chores after all. Right before dinner, they called Jules and Verne into the kitchen to talk to them.

"What's going on?" Jules asked, even though he knew very well the answer.

"Yeah what's up?" Verne asked in a similar manner as his brother.

Doc and Clara exchanged a look. Once again, the boys watched their parents secretly communicate. This lasted a few seconds before they finally returned to their sons.

"We discussed about that space camp last night," Clara began and let her husband continue.

"And took in all pros and cons about the subject-" Doc said and looked at his wife.

"Until we came to a final decision," Clara said. A smile sneaked onto her face and the boys waited with more patience than they ever had.

"You both can go," Doc said, with a big smile. Jules and Verne hooted loudly and high-fived each other. This was great! They were going to go to space camp! Going to learn the trades of an astronaut! Going to go up in a rocket!

"Super genius!" both boys shouted and did their secret handshake.


	2. chapter 2

Jules and Verne were woken up around six the next morning. It was a long drive down to the camp's official bus stop. The boys killed time by singing the _Star Wars _theme until their mother tossed a crumpled burger king bag at them. Then they spent the rest of the way laughing their heads off.

They got to the bus station a little late, which shortened their goodbyes. Clara hugged them and told them to take care and call every night. Doc gave them each a hug too and wished them luck and great fun. So now the boys sat on the bus, their duffel bags packed, and talking excitedly about their oncoming adventures. Well, actually Verne was doing all the talking.

"… so cool. I wonder if we'll get to eat real astronaunt or cafeteria food." Verne said as he butt-bounced on the seat, "Do you think it'll be in a tube or a baggy? Jules?"

He turned to his brother but saw that Jules wasn't even paying attention. He was listening to his portable walkman. Actually it was their mother's walkman. The one she always listened to when she cleaned the house on Sundays. Verne stopped bouncing and picked up one of the ear phones. A great tune of rock n' roll was playing. The song was being dominated by a guitar solo and Verne bobbed his head with the music.

"Verne, stop it!" Jules said. "You're going to damage the headphones!"

"Yeah, yeah," Verne said as he let go of the ear phone. It snapped back like a rubber band and hit Jules's temple. Jules glared at his brother but just put the walkman away. He was used to constant annoyances from a younger sibling. "Marty did good on his demo tape, huh?"

"Did _well_ brother." Jules corrected.

"Fine, did _well_ on his demo tape. Jeez!" Verne said and plopped back down in his seat. "How much longer until we get there?"

The bus gave a sudden screeching noise as it came to a stop. Most of the kids (including Jules and Verne) covered their ears from the noise.

0 0 0

Jules and Verne had never been to a camp before. Not a real camp, anyway. They had been to a camp that was at their school. Which, had consisted of the soccer field and a couple tents. But that was only a few hours a day and they didn't even get to sleep over. Plus, that camp wasn't nearly as BIG as this one. The whole camp was on a large grassy field. Kids were bustling about the field. Some were running around and burning off energy from sitting on the bus for hours. Some, mostly older kids, were just hanging around. Acting like they were too cool to be excited. All the other kids were acknowledging people they knew from last summer in their individual loud ways.

Different sections of the land were hosting at least five different buildings here. All cube-like and tall. They looked pretty old and their white paint was chipping a little. Along with the cube-buildings and the kids was a big space rocket that looked like some sort of Disney World ride. It was colored red, white, and blue, and had the certified U.S.A text stamped onto it.

"Awesome rocket!" Verne said and pointed to the invention of science. "Are we gonna ride it?"

"Yup!" said a voice from behind the boys. Jules and Verne turned around and saw a red-headed boy about their age smiling and nodding. As he did, his red curls bobbed up and down. "On the sixth day you get to go up in it and to the moon."

"Super genius!" Verne exclaimed and pumped his fist. He stopped and remembered his manners. "I'm Verne and this is Jules."

Jules stuck out his hand and the red-headed boy shook it.

"I'm Allan," said the red-headed boy. "This is my first time at this place."

"Ours too," Jules said and looked around again. "Say, where are the adults in charge?"

"Attention! Attention"

"There." Verne said and pointed to the main building. Everyone turned in the direction of the main building. Up on its porch-like platform, was a group of uniformed adults. All of them were wearing the camp's tee shirts and jeans. One of them held a megaphone up to his mouth.

"Welcome newcomers and old comers," the man with the megaphone said. "You're shuttles are in the white and blue buildings. The food shuttle is by the small shed. Breakfast is at eight o' clock, lunch is at twelve thirty, and dinner is at seven o' clock. For all you newcomers, you will spend most days in training. You will even get to go up in a rocket."

"Told ya," Allan whispered to Jules and Verne.

"Now, there will be a more detailed orientation tomorrow," the man with the megaphone said. "Next I want everyone to head to the food shuttle. That long bus ride must have starved you all. Don't forget to settle in for the night!"

With that the man switched off his megaphone and everyone flocked to the cafeteria. Jules and Verne squeezed their way through and tried to not get trampled by the bigger hungrier kids. The cafeteria may have been called the "food shuttle" but it looked like the cafeteria at school. A bunch of tables and a lunch line like the unemployment office. The trays, however, were transparent and circular. The tables were filling up fast but Jules and Verne were waved over to a free table by Allan.

"Oh man, I can't believe they don't serve real astronaunt food!" Verne complained. "No tubes or anything. Just the same old crappy cafeteria food."

"Don't say 'crappy' brother," Jules said with his mouth full of food and his commonplace book on the table. His tray was nearly clean. "It shows ignorance. This chicken pot pie isn't _that_ bad."

"Is this organic?" Allan asked and probed his serving with a spork. He pushed his tray aside. Jules pulled it over to himself and, his eyes still on his commonplace book, started eating the food on it. Allan stared at him and then at Verne.

"Doesn't your brother care what's in that stuff?" Allan asked.

"Nope," the ten-year-old answered. "Scientists don't care what they eat, they just care if you take them seriously."

A loud screech of a megaphone brought the conversation to an end. Everyone (except Jules, whom was still wrapped up in his notes and food) turned towards the doors of the cafeteria. The man who had delivered the orientation was there with his megaphone again.

"I hope all of you had a good dinner," the megaphone man said, which made certain campers make gagging noises. "We're going to be turning in early tonight so you'll all be resting and ready for tomorrow's training. Nighty-night everybody!"

Everybody stacked their trays, threw out their garbage, and herded out of the cafeteria.

0 0 0

Verne called dibs on the top bunk mainly by throwing his duffel bag up there. He jumped up in victory while his brother climbed onto the bottom bunk. He swung upside down over the side. On the bottom bunk, Jules was opening an old flowered tin box.

"Chocolate chip or ginger snap?" Verne inquired. He had sneaked hundreds of cookies from that thing. He wondered how his mother had managed to sneak it into Jules' duffel without himself noticing.

"Ginger snap," Jules answered and tossed a cookie at his younger sibling. Verne caught it but lost his balance and fell off his bed. "Are you all right?"

"A-okay!" Verne said and took a big bite of the cookie. Jules rolled his eyes. His brother was probably made of rubber.

The door to the shuttle swug open like someone had kicked it. The boys nearly got whipflash from turning toward the unexpected noise. A teenage boy with very dark hair and dark eyes stood there, hands on hips, and looking like he was Hitler re-incarnated.

"Listen up dweebs!" the teenage boy said. "I'm in charge of this shuttle and I want to put a few rules in your heads before you go night-night."

Jules stared at this intrusive teenage counselor. He looked to be about five years older than him, granted that was an estimation. The teenage boy also was very tall, taller than Jules' father, and very skinny. He wore the casual uniform like all the other counselors, which consisted of a camp tee shirt and baggy shorts. Along with a pair of dark brown All Stars.

"The main rules," the teen counselor said as he walked around the room. "No yelling, no pillow fights, and no Game Boys."

At that he swiped a grey Game Boy right out of a girl's hands.

"No shouting, and no snacks," the teen counselor said as he reached Jules and Verne's bed. He grabbed the cookie tin out of Jules' hands so fast the twelve-year-old couldn't properly react.

"HEY!" Verne shouted. The teenage counselor whipped around and glared at the boy. Verne saw that he had already broken one of the rules.

"And the number one rule," the counselor continued, without breaking his glare on Verne. "Do not _ever_ bug me."

The whole shuttle was silent for a second.

"Yo Jared! Are you coming back?" yelled someone from outside. The teen counselor, or Jared, turned toward the door and started to leave.

"Any questions? Great." Jared said even though three kids had raised their hands. "Lights out." He left and the whole shuttle seemed to relax a little. Kids didn't even resume their playing. Jules was the one to break the silence.

"Well he was certainly unpleasant," Jules stated and began pulling the covers over himelf. The girl who had her Game Boy taken shut off the lights and everyone climbed into their respectable bunks. Soon all the kids were asleep, except for Jules and Verne.

_I wonder if the testing tomorrow is academic or physical. _Jules wondered and clutched the blanket closer to his body. _Maybe I should have studied more before we left home. How many moons are in our solar system? Drat, I can't remember… _

Above Jules, Verne was battling thoughts of his own.

_I hope none of the tests have any percentages or fractions in them. _Verne thought as he stared up at the ceiling. _Will we get to jump around in zero gravity? I always wanted to do that… _

Even though at least a dozen thoughts were bothering them about tomorrow, they each only said two words to each other.

"Night, Jules."

"Night, Verne."

* * *

**Author's Note: The answer Jules couldn't remember is 169. There are 169 moons in our solar system. **


	3. chapter 3

The breakfast food was just as bad as the dinner food. Jules, Verne, and Allan sat at the same table as last time. Verne had a thumb war with Allan and Jules complained about his runny eggs. He ate them anyway. Then they were called to one of the cube buildings to attend a second orientation. Jules took extensive notes and Verne became absorbed in the tape of the moon landing. It wasn't until their first training activity that the actual fun started.

"Americans landed on the moon in 1969," a counselor said. "On July 20th. Next month will be the anniversary of that day. But today you all are going to mimick those first steps on the moon. All right? Questions? No? Okay, who's first? How about you?"

Jules jumped a little when the counselor pointed to him. _Why must adults always pick the tall skinny kids for volunteers? _

"Go ahead Jules," Verne whispered and elbowed his brother. "Show 'em unless you can't get your butt off the ground."

Jules straightened his back and walked right up to the counselor. The man tried to help Jules into the harness but Jules waved him away. He could do it himself. He could do anything himself. In fact, he started thinking that over and over in a special rhythm.

_I can do anything. I can do anything. I can do anything. _

"Just take three bounces and then add your own flare," the counselor said and handed Jules a small toy American flag. Jules squeezed the flag and closed his eyes. The flag pole was all the way across the trampoline floor. Jules opened his eyes and stared at it. He concentrated and started jumping.

Verne watched his older brother bounce three times, higher and farther each time. Verne watched Jules flip through the air 360 degrees, land on his feet, bounce up, and slam the flag in the flag pole.

"Impressive kid," the counselor said as he unhooked Jules from the harness. Jules straightened his tee shirt and accepted the pin with the moon pictured on it. Then he walked past his brother and playfully snapped his fingers in front of his face.

"Easy as pie r squared," Jules said. Verne stomped over to the counselor and put on the harness. If nerd-o could do it, he could do it.

Verne's landing was kind of clumsy. When he flipped he landed on his back. He bounced high from the fail and toward the flag pole. Seizing the moment, he stuck the flag in there and fell on his knees. To his surprise, he got his moon badge anyway.

All the other kids took their turns and the boys watched every one of them. Everyone did their landing differently. But Jules noticed his brother watching a specific camper. It was a girl their age soaring through the air. Her long brown ponytail was flying behind her along with the shoelaces of her yellow high tops. Jules waved his hand in front of Verne's face.

"What?" Verne said. He didn't like that weird smile on his brother's face.

"You favor her-"

"Mind your own beeswax!" Verne yelled rather loudly. All the other kids, including the Girl With The Yellow High Tops, stared at them. Verne felt his ears get hot and covered them with his ears. Jules decided to ease up on Verne for the rest of the morning.

0 0 0

Luchtime came and they were STARVED. They found Allan at their usual table. The red-headed boy was lying his head flat on the table with his arms stretched out before him. Jules poked him with a straw to make sure the boy hadn't keeled over.

"So… many… schematics…" Allan muttered and sat up. He now had a new badge on his tee shirt. Jules nodded in sympathy. He too knew the exhaustion from analyzing a difficult mechanic outline.

They talked little and ate a lot. The food was still half edible but Allan had some organic crackers that he passed around.

"Your mom's on that organic kick too, huh?" Verne said as he nibbled on a cracker. "Ever try the Stop N' Slop organic pizza? The cheese is like plastic."

"No my mom makes her own pizzas," Allan said. "She said all the major pizza places use fake cheese. Like some kind of artificial substitute."

"Ah that's just a rumor," Verne said and Jules nodded. What pizza place would be so cheap to use fake cheese anyway?

"Well she believes it," Allan said and ate the last cracker. "Her pizza is better than all the others, anyway."

"My kingdom for a pizza…" Verne said as he stirred whatever potatoe corn concoction was on his tray. A thought popped into his mind. "Oh! Jules we got to call mom and dad!"

Luckily, the line for the phone wasn't long at all and Verne soon was dialing their phone number. Their mother's annoyed voice was the first thing they heard.

"For the final time we do not need a new microwave-"

"Mother do I sound like a microwave salesman?" Jules asked. Verne started laughing and Jules had to slap him so he could hear.

"Oh sorry sweetheart," Clara said and the boys could hear shout for their father. Their father's voice came on the line, happily familiar.

"How our my boys doing?" He asked. Verne grabbed the phone to get his share of talking in.

"We're great!" Verne said. "Today we got to fake walk on the moon and everything. Jules was awesome! He flipped in the middle of the air!"

Jules took back the phone.

"It wasn't intentional," Jules said. Verne grabbed the phone again.

"Does that mean we can get a trampoline?" He questioned, as innocently as possible. Clara chuckled into the reciever.

"I'm afraid not Verny," Clara said. "But we're proud of both of you. Einstein's really missing you two, though. He's been whinning for days."

"We miss all of you too," Jules said. "That's one of the reasons we can't wait for the last day. Not that we're having a horrible time. We already learned that-"

Jules didn't get to finish because the phone was suddenly yanked out of his hands. It wasn't by Verne this time. Jared stood before them, holding the phone by its cord and out of their reach.

"Only _one_ minute calls dweebs!" Jared said and hung up the phone. Verne glared back at him even though they weren't at the same eye level.

"That's no fair!" Verne yelled.

"It was in the orientation," Jared said it like a fact.

"It was _not._" Jules claimed. "I took very articulate notes on that orientation and no one said anything about the length of phone usuage being that little."

"I'm so sure you did little brainiac," Jared said and started to dial a number. "I say one minute calls. Heeey Judy."

The boys guessed "Judy" was probably some girl on the other line. Jared started yapping away to her and the battle was over. All they could do was walk back to the cafeteria.

"Man I hate that guy," Verne grumbled.

**

* * *

**

Author's Note: I have nothing against Stop N' Shop's generic, organic, personal, or family-sized pizzas. That was entirely Verne's opinion. I do, however, think Stop N' Shop (or Stop N' Slop) should turn down its air conditioners.


	4. Chapter 4

The next two days Jules and Verne spent separately. Jules had went off with the kids to learn about the inner mechanics of new space technology. Verne had went off with the kids with regular activities and joined a game of astro soccer. Which was basically soccer with a brown ball and a costumed goalie. Verne had fun but during those days he wondered exactly when they would go into space. How long would they have to train before they could blast off?

"My estimation would be soon, brother." Jules said after Verne had asked him one afternoon.

"Can you be more specific?" Verne asked.

"Look I do not know the exact date," Jules said, his temper flaring up. "I'm just as anxious about it as you are."

"Jeez you don't have to snap at me," Verne muttered and then changed the subject. "Who do you want to be on the rocket?"

"An engineer," Jules answered without a pause.

"Engineers don't go up in the rocket," Verne said. "They just build it and watch it fly off."

Jules stopped walking and stared down at his brother.

"They go up in it," He said as if it were recited to him. They had to go up in it after all. What if something malfunctioned along the journey?

"No they don't." Verne stated.

"Yes they do." Jules stated.

"No they don't!"

"Yes they do! Oh, forget this! Let's just go to the main building, okay?" Jules started running and Verne followed him. The main building was a mess of parental and child activity. Today was visiting day. All the parents or guardians drove or flew over here to momentarily reunite with their children. Verne compared it like Open House at school. Jules and Verne spotted Allan hugging a red-headed woman (probably his mother). They saw that he was busy so they didn't say hi. A lot of cars were parked in the camp's parking lot but there was no sign of the white Enterprises van. Jules turned to his brother.

"I wonder where-" but he didn't finish because a hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder and Verne's shoulder.

"Surprise squirts!" a very familiar voice said.

"Marty!" Verne shouted and tackled the long-time family friend. He knocked Marty down to the ground. They wrestled a little until Marty picked Verne up in a piggy-back.

"Hello Marty," Jules said.

"Hey Jules," Marty said and pointed to the twelve-year-old's tee shirt. "Nice badges."

Jules pinched the newest badge on his shirt with pride.

"I got this one yesterday for building the most efficient toy rocket," He said with a smile. Marty shifted from the weight of Verne.

"That's cool," He said and looked back at Verne. "Hey Verne, what are they feeding you here? My knees are about to cave."

"Dumb cafeteria food," the ten-year-old answered.

"Well get off me fattie!" Marty teased and Verne fell off of him from laughing. "How about you guys show me around this place?"

They started with showing Marty the big rocket. Jules didn't add that it wasn't real, for Verne's sake. Marty took a few pictures with Jules and Verne in front of the rocket and one with the three of them in front of it. One-of-a-kind soveiners, as he said. Then they showed him the insides of all the buildings where they trained. Like the one with the giant trampoline floor and moon décor. And the one with all the replica props from space's history. Jules pointed out the cafeteria but they didn't go inside because it was really crowded with hungry kids and parents. They even showed Marty their living quarters.

"This is our bunk," Verne said and hopped up on his claimed bed. Boy did he love sleeping on the top bunk. Marty plopped down on the bottom bunk next to Jules. He noticed Jules just sitting there very quietly. The kid hadn't said anything for awhile.

"You okay Jules?" Marty asked. Jules looked down at his sneakers as if he couldn't lift up his neck anymore.

"I'm glad to see you Marty but…" Jules's voice trailed off until he found it again. "I was sort of expecting mother and father to come up to see us. We haven't seen them for days you know. Verne and I have never been away from them for so long. I don't know, I guess I was just expecting them to miss us in return."

"Hey they were on their way," Marty said and patted a very surprised Jules. "I was going to meet up with them here. But Clara called me and said that there was a mess of road work on the highway and they were stuck in gridlock traffic."

"I hate traffic," Verne said and sprawled out on his bed.

"And if I know my father correctly," Jules started and chuckled. "He probably is yelling obscenities out the window."

"Oh yeah I could hear him over the phone!" Marty said and laughed. Jules and Verne laughed too. Soon they were all sprawled out in the bunk, laughing and wrestling each other in their trademark ways.

Marty left around dinner time, saying he had to get back to his parents's house before six. Jules and Verne waved and followed Marty's truck to the gate of the camp. Then they watched him disappear down the road and turn onto the highway. Verne felt an extreme feeling of loneliness invade him. However, he remembered his brother and tapped his shoulder.

"Let's eat," Verne said and they raced to the cafeteria. Verne won.


	5. Chapter 5

Today was the day. When Jules and Verne woke up, they heard all the commotion from the other campers. Everyone was talking about it. Everyone was excited about it. Verne was hopping and jumping around, totally eager for lift off time. Jules, whom had the ability to hold still, expressed his excitement in a different way.

"Do you think they'll let us choose our jobs?"

"What's the inner part of the rocket going to look like?"

"Will they let me explore it?"

"Jules will you just shut up already!" Verne said and groaned. Jules was such a pain when he was really hyper. Another thing the oldest inherited from his father. Jules frowned and tossed a French fry at his brother.

"Well pardon me for being curious about all this…" Jules muttered. A bell rang and they all got up and cleared their trays. If it could be any louder, they would have to wear protective earplugs. All the campers were loudly anticipating the launch. Jules and Verne were in the great wave of campers, flowing out of the cafeteria and towards the big rocket.

All of the counselors were there. Including Jerkwad Jared, as Verne had nick-named him. Jerkwad Jared was standing there, scowling and sweating like a pig in the noon heat. _Maybe that's why he's so skinny,_ Verne thought. The other counselors were in better moods (and wearing stronger deoderant).

"I know you all want to get in the simulator," the counselor with the megaphone said. "But first we have to break into groups! Okay, so we need everyone to gather together in individual groups of seven…"

0 0 0

Jules and Verne were on the second simulation. Their steps made loud clanks as they walked up the stairs to the shuttle. Both of them learned that they were not going into the large rocket. They were walking into a small ride behind the rocket. It looked like a square lumpy room on four legs. Something like the traveling fair might set up in Hill Valley Park.

Including themselves, seven people were on. They were already assigned their jobs on the launch, but they forgot the specific names. All they could remember was that they were the front people. The people that were the main controlers of the shuttle launch. The primarys. Jules noticed that Allan and the Girl With The Yellow High-tops were in-the-back people. Secondarys in other words. Allan noticed Jules staring at him and grinned ear to ear, holding up a Pepsi soda can and giving a thumbs up.

Verne was staring at the Girl With The Yellow High-tops again. Jules pulled Verne away and they both got situated in their assigned places. The inside of the shuttle was more impressing than its outside. Whoever had designed it had done a great job. All the controls that copied those in a real shuttle were flawless. The bare metal walls, floor, and ceiling could have been fake or could have been real. The chairs, all seven of them, were smaller in order to be child-sized. Verne butt-bounced on his, it was reassuringly soft and comfy. It reminded him of the old red armchair back home.

Jules stared wide-eyed at the many buttons, switches, and keys in front of him. He had been seated right in front of the controls. A big deal for him. At first his keen instinct was to touch all of the keys and find out what they did. He knew he had to wait, though. This wasn't play time, this was adventure time. He looked over at Verne and saw him still bouncing in his chair. How immature! Couldn't his brother just sit still and act right for once?

"Let's blast off already!" one of the boys in the back yelled. His request was granted a second later.

The whole shuttle room made a sound like it was digesting some very spicy food. The kids screamed in joy as they shook and quaked all over. The Girl With The Yellow High-tops fell out of her seat and Verne helped her back up. She held onto his hand as he got her back in her seat. Jules chuckled at his brother attempted courting, before falling out of his seat himself. Then they all remembered that seatbelts were included.

It felt like they were rising into the sky. Verne, now buckled in safely, shot his arms up above his head and hooted out loud. So what if they weren't in the big old rocket? This was better than he had expected! It wasn't like a fifty cent amusement ride either. He glanced over at Jules and saw his brother nearly sinking into the chair. Jules was clawing into the armrests and scrunching his body into the cloth interior. His eyes were squeezed shut and he seemed to be holding his breath. _Oh yeah, _Verne thought. _I forgot he's not a fast ride kind of guy. _

After a little while, the quaking, shaking, and gastric-like noises stopped. The only windshield of the rocket blinked open like an eyeball. All the campers marveled at the great sight outside the glass. Hundreds of stars were out there winking and shining at them. Those stars contrasting greatly from the deepest and darkest shade of black outer space had to offer. The moon was on a far corner of their view.

Suddenly a comet burned its way straight towards their shuttle! Verne and another girl took to the controls and hit several keys before yanking one of the levers. They swerved out of the comet's way. The whole crew relaxed at the avoided peril and started clapping. That may have been close but it sure was cool!

Their given mission was to orbit the earth. A simple enough task for the crew of seven. Verne and the other boy up front were already steering the shuttle, doing it like they had for thirty years. Jules watched them for awhile and then reached out a shaky hand to do his job. He pulled back but an encouraging look from Verne made him grip the controls. Just helping to steer this great space exploration machine made a big smile sneak on Jules' face. He began to relax as they moved along. That is, until a sudden noise from the back interrupted that moment of the serene mission.

_SPLASH! ZAP! _

All heads swiveled backwards to see what had happened. Allan was standing near the wall, wide-eyed and staring at his spilled soda on the back controls. The boy opened his mouth to say something but the whole shuttle started shaking. It wasn't the shaking and quaking they experienced when they took off. This was a rocking. Jules and Verne felt their seatbelts nearly cut them in two. Allan, whom wasn't wearing his seatbelt, fell on the floor and slid towards the wall. Another girl managed to grab him before he smacked into the wall.

"I'm sorry!" Allan said, still wide-eyed with panic. "I-I really am! My Pepsi just fell over when I touched it! It really did!"

The other campers were not so forgiving.

"Save it Allan!" one of the other boys shouted. He was doing these strange moves to stand up with the shaking. "Everyone knows you don't bring drinks on a space shuttle, stupid!"

"Yeah why'd you do that stupid?" a girl said.

"Now we're all going to crash and die! Screamed another kid.

"Hey leave him alone!" the voice of Jules yelled. The twelve-year-old unbuckled himself and strolled over to where the commotion was taking place. A very grateful Allan stood next to him. "It was a common mistake. You don't have to hound him because of it. Besides, I can fix it."

No one may have believed him but Jules didn't pay attention to them. He dropped to the ground and crawled under the back control table. By now the soda must have leaked into the machine and messed with the wiring. God knows what it could do, but Jules decided to do all he could to save their shuttle. Taking his swiss army knife (which he had retrieved back from his father), Jules started unscrewing the metal plates and checking the deep wiring. Verne ran over to help his brother.

The other five kids were just trying to keep their balance as they watched Jules and Verne. After helping Jules access the switchblade on the swiss army knife, Verne glanced up at the silent watching campers.

"What are you waiting for?" Verne demanded. "Just standing there's not gonna help. We got a mission to finish!"

Stunned beyond belief, the other crew members stumbled to their seats. Soon the shaking ceased and Jules came out from under the controls. He was sweaty and had a small black stain on his tee shirt. His swiss army knife's switch blade was out and had a little oil on it.

"It's all set," Jules said and clipped his trusty tool to his shorts. The other campers were back in their seats, but still watching the two brothers with awe.

"Uh, good but we got another problem!" Verne said, tugging with all his might on one of the small levers. The windshield displayed their planet earth. Except that it was rapidly growing bigger and bigger and the shuttle was quaking again.

"We're gonna crash!" The Girl With The Yellow High-tops yelled. That made all the other crew members start yelling too. The shuttle was in complete panic.

_Why?_ Jules thought. _All this is just a simulation. It's not real at all! _He glanced over at Verne, whom was still tugging on the steering lever. Just trying to save them from absolute peril. _Oh my, I guess I better play along for Verne's sake. _

Verne felt his brother pulling on the lever too. The shuttle was still looming towards earth and both boys knew that they needed more power. Then they remembered that they weren't the only people on this thing.

"Everyone grab the lever in front of you!" Verne shouted. "And pull down!"

The other five kids grabbed the levers and pulled down. The shuttle was still going down. Everyone tried harder and shouts of "Come on, come on!" and "Go up! _Please_ go up!" were heard. With the combined effort, the shuttle rose up and stopped quaking.

"All right!" Allan shouted as the digital words: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED appeared on the windhshield. Jules and Verne let go of their controls and plopped back, in great relief, in Verne's chair. Behind them the other campers were hooting and cheering. Jules and Verne started cheering too as the shuttle made the mechanical sounds of landing. However, they got only halfway down the stairwell when Jared charged up to them like a sweaty rhino.

"What the hell _happened_ in there?" Jared demanded. All the kids went quiet and Verne quickly looked at Allan. The red-head was looking down at his shoes apparently waiting to get hounded for putting his soda in the spill-zone. Actually, everyone was waiting to be hounded.

"Jared there's no need to use such language," said a deep man's voice.

Jules, Verne, Allan, The Girl With The Yellow High-Tops, the other kids, and all the other campers there, whipped around. Standing there was a very tall and skinny man. He literally towered over everyone else. He wore what the counselors wore except that he had an old cap on his black-haired head. This man had an air of authority but it was a kind authority. Jules stared at him and decided he was a good sort.

"These kids just did something that I would expect from NASA's A-list team," the man said, approaching Jared and squinting at him through his glasses. "And you charge up to them and scream at them?" Jared looked like he had shrunken.

"Well uh, dad, I-" Jared stammered. Jules and Verne looked at each other. Dad? The camp's director was Jared's father? _Maybe that's why he got the job, _Verne thought.

"I don't want to hear it," Jared's father said and held up a hand. He turned towards Jules and Verne's group. "Now, who fixed the controls?"

Jules raised his hand.

"And who got everyone to work together?"

Verne raised his hand.

"Well I certainly am impressed!" Jared's father said. He had one of those smiles that could make hundreds of people smile even in a crisis. Verne decided he liked this guy, even if he was a grown-up. "Tell you what…"

Jared's father began searching for something in his jeans pocket. He pulled out a leather wallet and flipped it open. From it he took out two pieces of metal with wings on them. Then he stepped down and pinned a metal on Verne and the other on Jules.

"These are very exclusive badges," Jared's father said. "Only given to kids that really show the true spirit of an anstronaunt: bravery, intelligence, and leadership."

He stood back up and saluted the boys. Jules and Verne saluted right back, all smiles.

"Come Jared," Jared's father said and turned right around to leave. Jared followed him, grumbling back at Jules and Verne as he went. After they were gone, the other campers gathered around them. Allan started excitedly re-telling the story while the the others wanted to check out the boys' badges.

0 0 0

"…then the camp director gave us these badges." Verne said and scratched Einstein's ears. Him, Jules and the old dog were in the back of the Enterprises van. Doc and Clara had showed up early at the camp. At first, Jules and Verne pretended to be mad at them for missing visitor's day. But they couldn't hold out long enough and ran to hug their parents. Einstein had been on a leash and nearly tackled the boys to say hello. After a ton of hugs and slobby dog kisses, they all got in the van and headed for home.

"I'm proud of you both," Doc said over his shoulder. "Marty told me you two were doing well but I didn't think you'd save the day like that!"

"Can we go back next year?" Jules asked. He caught his father glance at his mother for a mini second.

"Maybe." Clara said.

"All right!" Jules and Verne said, high-fiving. Maybe could easily be a "yes".


End file.
